Reword and clarify embedding on views

This commit is contained in:
Laurence Isla
2022-07-19 10:51:36 -05:00
committed by GitHub
parent bba960d4c6
commit 2592639d1b
+14 -61
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@@ -1204,31 +1204,34 @@ Since it contains the ``films_id`` foreign key, it is possible to embed ``box_of
Embedding Views
---------------
Embedding a view is possible if the view contains columns that have **foreign keys** defined in their source tables.
PostgREST will infer the relationships of a view based on its source tables. Source tables are the ones referenced in the ``FROM`` and ``JOIN`` clauses of the view definition. The foreign keys of the relationships must be present in the top ``SELECT`` clause of the view for this to work.
As an example, let's create a view called ``nominations_view`` based on the *nominations* table.
For instance, the following view has ``nominations``, ``films`` and ``competitions`` as source tables:
.. code-block:: postgres
CREATE VIEW nominations_view AS
SELECT
rank
, competition_id
, film_id
FROM
nominations;
SELECT
films.title as film_title
, competitions.name as competition_name
, nominations.rank
, nominations.film_id as nominations_film_id
, films.id as film_id
FROM nominations
JOIN films ON films.id = nominations.film_id
JOIN competitions ON competitions.id = nominations.competition_id;
Since it contains ``competition_id`` and ``film_id`` — and each one has a **foreign key** defined in its source table — we can embed *competitions* and *films*:
Since this view contains ``nominations.film_id``, which has a **foreign key** relationship to ``films``, then we can embed the ``films`` table. Similarly, because the view contains ``films.id``, then we can also embed the ``roles`` and the ``actors`` tables (the last one in a many-to-many relationship):
.. tabs::
.. code-tab:: http
GET /nominations_view?select=rank,competitions(name,year),films(title)&rank=eq.5 HTTP/1.1
GET /nominations_view?select=film_title,films(language),roles(character),actors(last_name,first_name)&rank=eq.5 HTTP/1.1
.. code-tab:: bash Curl
curl "http://localhost:3000/nominations_view?select=rank,competitions(name,year),films(title)&rank=eq.5"
curl "http://localhost:3000/nominations_view?select=film_title,films(language),roles(character),actors(last_name,first_name)&rank=eq.5"
It's also possible to embed `Materialized Views <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/rules-materializedviews.html>`_.
@@ -1249,56 +1252,6 @@ It's also possible to embed `Materialized Views <https://www.postgresql.org/docs
If view definitions change you must refresh PostgREST's schema cache for this to work properly. See the section :ref:`schema_reloading`.
Embedding Views containing Joins
--------------------------------
On views that contain joins, PostgREST will infer the joined tables' foreign keys based on the sources of the view columns.
For instance, let's create a view called ``detailed_nominations_view`` that will join three tables:
.. code-block:: postgres
CREATE VIEW detailed_nominations_view AS
SELECT
films.title as film_title
, competitions.name as competition_name
, rank
, film_id
FROM nominations
JOIN films ON films.id = nominations.film_id
JOIN competitions ON competitions.id = nominations.competition_id;
The view can be embedded with the table ``films`` because it has the ``film_id`` column from the ``nominations`` table, which has a relationship with ``films``.
But what if you want to embed the view with the ``actors`` table? The ``film_id`` column alone will not allow it since it belongs to ``nominations``, which doesn't have a relationship to ``actors``. In this case, you need to select the ``id`` column from the ``films`` table, which has a many-to-many relationship with ``actors``.
.. code-block:: postgres
CREATE VIEW detailed_nominations_view AS
SELECT
films.title as film_title
, competitions.name as competition_name
, rank
-- To keep the relationship with the films table, this column is renamed
, film_id as nominations_film_id
-- Adding this column allows the relationships we want
, films.id as film_id
FROM nominations
JOIN films ON films.id = nominations.film_id
JOIN competitions ON competitions.id = nominations.competition_id;
Now we can embed both the ``films`` and ``actors`` tables:
.. tabs::
.. code-tab:: http
GET /detailed_nominations_view?select=film_title,rank,films(language),actors(last_name,first_name)&competition_name=ilike.bafta HTTP/1.1
.. code-tab:: bash Curl
curl "http://localhost:3000/detailed_nominations_view?select=film_title,rank,films(language),actors(last_name,first_name)&competition_name=ilike.bafta"
.. _embedding_view_chains:
Embedding Chains of Views